1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to the field of communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to gathering, managing and inserting customized advertisement information in communication systems.
2. Background Information
User expectation has continued to grow concurrently with the advent of new technologies. Expectations for greater and more personalized services have developed in a variety of service industries with respect to inserting images or other visual information into another displayed image, replacing at least a portion of that display image. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,743 to BLANCATO describes a “Method and Apparatus for Displaying Hairstyles.” In an effort to provide a user with a preview of how a particular hairstyle will appear on the user, i.e., without having to go through the actual haircut and hairstyling, BLANCATO stores a plurality of hairstyles on a disc associated with a computer. Subsequently, BLANCATO captures an image of the user and outlines the user's face. He then makes a number of modifications to the image, including overlaying particular hairstyles. BLANCATO then displays the overlayed image to the user for hairstyle assessment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,843 to LENNON, entitled “Customer Image Capture and Use Thereof in a Retailing System,” describes an image capture system used in a retailing environment. Particularly, LENNON describes a system that captures an image of a customer at a retailer's place of business. Subsequently, when the customer is in close proximity to an image display area within the retailer's place of business, a composite image including the customer's captured image and a reference image may be provided. The composite image may include full motion video or still images. Thus, a customer is provided with an opportunity to virtually assess particular merchandise without having to try on, for example, an apparel item.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,015,978 to JEFFERS et al., entitled “System And Method For Real Time Insertion Into Video With Occlusion On Areas Containing Multiple Colors,” describes real-time insertion of indicia such as, for example, an advertisement, into a live or taped broadcast. JEFFERS et al. provide for insertion of indicia onto surfaces such as tennis courts, walls, grass or turf surfaces, or other surfaces shown during televised sporting events. To accomplish indicia insertion, JEFFERS et al. obtain video images from a camera, digitize the images, sample the digitized images into sampled pixels, and obtain a plurality of background colors for the sampled pixels. JEFFERS et al. then assign an opacity value to each pixel in the indicia based on whether the color of a positionally corresponding pixel in the video image is the same color as one of the plurality of background colors. Pixels are then displayed in the video image in dependence on whether the positionally corresponding pixel in the video image is the same color as one of the background colors.
Progress in computer processor speeds has significantly expanded the possible applications. It is not uncommon for ordinary personal computers to possess microprocessors that operate at clock cycles of 3.8 GHz or higher. Moreover, storage capacity has increased dramatically, where it is not uncommon to find ordinary personal computers that possess 200 Gigabyte hard-drives, which may be further expanded without any clearly defined limit.
A need exists for customized signal insertion and/or overlay in telecommunications systems, such as, for example, television and radio broadcasts. Particularly, a need exists for customized insertion and/or overlay of user defined images, sounds and other indicia in received signals on electronic devices such as, for example, televisions, computers, telephones, personal data assistants (PDAs), portable computers, radios, satellite receivers, and the like.